Drug Cartels Deploy Drones in High-Tech Smuggling Battle Across Gibraltar Strait

The criminal organizations dedicated to the Moroccan hashish traffic in the Strait of Gibraltar have managed to introduce thousands of tons of drugs into Spain from Morocco using speedboats, fishing boats, and especially drones. In July 2021, agents from the Malaga provincial police station, in collaboration with the French police, seized a narco-drone five meters long capable of carrying up to 150 kilos of drugs.

Manufactured in China, this drone can fly at an altitude of 7,000 feet and at a speed of 170 km/h. "The security forces are always a step behind in innovation against crime," say police sources at Escuo Digital. Last July, the National Police detected a kind of criminal technology center in Castellar de la Frontera (Cádiz), where these devices are manufactured. The search carried out on the premises allowed the seizure of three small underwater drones with two powerful engines each, suitable for transporting 150 to 200 kilos of drugs, as well as six other powerful aerial drones equipped with 12 engines and a range of 30 kilometers.

For its part, the Tax Agency uses mini-drones for surveillance against drug trafficking and tax evasion in the Campo de Gibraltar area, in the province of Cádiz. This is also the case for the Customs Surveillance Directorate, which uses these less than 35-gram devices for discreet surveillance. The Civil Guard is also considering the use of drones to strengthen surveillance in the strait.